MARTIN Taylor could pass a milestone that seemed highly unlikely as winter set in - 100 appearances for Blues.

Should the recalled centre-half figure in 10 of Blues remaining 12 games, he will clock up the century.

In November, Taylor went on loan to Norwich City for competitive action and, as manager Alex McLeish targeted Villa's Gary Cahill for transfer, it seemed certain the 28-year-old would be leaving for good.

But circumstance - Cahill's decision to join Bolton Wanderers, Radhi Jaidi's Africa Cup of Nations involvement - and McLeish's change of heart about Taylor, means he is where he wants to be: in the Blues side.

"I'm just pleased to have got a chance again," said Taylor, who Norwich wanted to buy for £750,000, a quarter-of-a-million pounds short of Blues valuation.

"A lot of the lads have shown the manager what they can do, but I only played my first game for him against Derby County.

"You can try and impress in training, but he won't know what you are really like, what your mentality is, until he sees you where it matters on the pitch.

"If I can keep my place, help us stay up and reach 100 appearances, that would be great.

"It's been difficult and frustrating for me this season, but that seems to be the way it's been ever since I came.

"You can't get too fed up about it, sometimes things happen in football that you don't have any control over.

"I just hope I continue to play on a consistent basis, like I did after New Year last season, because you need to get into that mode as it helps you."

Before the Championship promotion-winning season, he had not strung together more than 10 games consecutively for Blues.

And even last season, he watched as Bruno N'Gotty and Olivier Tebily began the campaign, and Jaidi was added.

When he did get a recall for the key Derby County match in October 2006, he came out of the side once Matthew Upson recovered fitness and slotted back in after his sale.

This season, a solitary League Cup game was all he had to show until he replaced Rafael Schmitz for Derby's visit 10 days ago.

That's why it was off to Norwich, where he impressed.

So how close was he to leaving? QPR were also in the hunt, but Canaries manager Glenn Roeder went after Taylor strongly.

"When the loan ended, I had to have a big think about things," said Taylor, who joined Blues for £1.25 million from Blackburn Rovers four years ago.

"I decided I'd like to extend the loan, taking me to January 1, and then see what would happen.

"The manager had told me that I wasn't wanted. When a new manager comes in, he wants to change it and has to make decisions. If it means some players have to go somewhere else, that happens, fair enough.

"But I came back and did the best I could. If you just fob it off, then it just makes it more difficult for yourself and your team mates.

"Maybe had he signed someone else, I might not be here now but, again, that fell through and he never said he was not going to use me if he saw fit.

"I've got a chance again and hopefully I can do my bit to keep us in the Premier League and then start afresh here again next season."

Taylor, who has two-and-a-half years left on his contract and is settled in the area with his young family, experienced the pain of relegation in 2006 and doesn't want to go through it again.

He played in 13 of Blues last 14 games back then, helping the team buck up and rally only for a surging Portsmouth to survive at their expense.

"As a squad, we weren't as young then as we are now," Taylor remarked.

"Maybe we've got the legs, but not the experience, but just having experience doesn't necessarily mean you are going to avoid the drop.

"There are a lot of players here who are desperate to be the best they can and want Premier League careers.

"We've been putting in decent performances but not quite getting the results. It's about turning the 1-1s into victories.

"What is good is that there is a lot of belief. If we go a goal down, then heads don't just drop and we think 'that's it, no chance'. That can happen when you are at the bottom of the table, but it doesn't here.

"Also, we're not getting a hiding every week. We're conceding goals that are avoidable but teams don't just play through us too much, we're not easy to break down."